Driver, monitor charged after girl left on bus

Published 6:50 pm, Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A school bus driver and monitor face charges after State Police said the pair left a 3-year-old unattended for nearly three hours.

Eric Ramm, 31, of Cohoes, the driver, and Thomas Kottackal, 59, of Albany, the monitor, were charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of a child, troopers said.

According to state police, the bus, owned by Northland Transportation, dropped off several students about 9 a.m. at Capital District Beginnings in Berlin. The 3-year-old did not get off the bus and neither Ramm nor Kottackal noticed her, troopers said.

The bus was left in a lot in Menands from 10 a.m. until 12:45 p.m., when Kottackal returned and noticed the child still strapped in her car seat.